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USC Lancaster 1994-1995http://kudzu.ipr.sc.edu/IEReports/lanc1995.htm

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S. C. STATE U BRARY JUL 2 3 2001

STATE DOCUMENTS

University of South Carolina Lancaster Annual Accountability Report

Fiscal Year 1994-1995

UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH CAROLINA LANCASTER

Introduction

This summary report for USC Lancaster includes assessment results for t~e following components:

• Majors and Concentrations

Criminal Justice Associate in Science in Business

• Licensing/Certification Exams

• Academic Advising

• Entry-Level Skills

• Transfer Student Success

• Public Service Institution-wide

The remaining components will be reported on in the annotated year:

• General Education ( 1996) • Undergraduate Retention and Attrition ( 1996) • Athletes' Academic Performance (not applicable) • Student Development ( 1996) • Library Resources & Services ( 1996) • Administration and Financial Processes and Performance ( 1997) • Facilities ( 1998) • Research Institution-wide (Not applicable)

Of the components being reported upon this year, USC Lancaster invites the reader to note those achievements and those programmatic changes which are highlighted in italics. USC Lancaster remains committed to a continuous cycle of improvement and strives to not just assess its programs on a regular bases but use the results of those assessments to strengthen our institution and its ability

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to serve the needs of its constituents.

1. General Education

This component was reported on last in 1992. Based on the schedule of reporting, this component will be reported on next in 1996.

2. Majors or Concentrations

Majors and concentrations provide students with specialized knowledge and skills.

Criminal Justice Program

The purpose of USC Lancaster's Criminal Justice program is to successfully prepare students for employment in criminal justice occupations. The program requires students to take 48 credit hours in required General Education courses, including English, quantitative skill disciplines, humanities and social sciences. Students must also take 15 hours of Criminal Justice courses. In addition, students must take an additional 6 credit hours in electives. Criminal Justice majors are also required to complete an internship while enrolled at USC Lancaster. Through their coursework and their internship experiences, students are helped to acquire or further develop the skills, knowledge, capabilities, and personal qualities necessary for successful entry into a criminal justice program.

USC Lancaster's alumni survey indicates that sixty six percent (66%) of those responding to the survey who majored in Criminal Justice had obtained employment which is highly related to their Criminal Justice major, while fully eighty three percent (83%) currently hold a job which is related to some degree to the Criminal Justice Major.

Nevertheless, USC Lancaster is committed to continuously improving instruction and program design in response to all perceived student needs, survey results, and coordination efforts with the Criminal Justice Program at USC Columbia. Because a detailed survey of Criminal Justice graduates and their employers (conducted in spring of 1992 )revealed the following possible areas for improvement, appropriate changes have been made:

• A perceived need for greater training in budgetary matters pertaining to criminal justice employment resulted in USC Lancaster incorporating a section on budgeting into LCRJ 282. This unit includes implementing a budget, reviewing budgets for various departments, and decision making related to budget allocations.

• USC Lancaster responded to a perceived need for greater flexibility in the scheduling of criminal justice courses by incorporating evening course offerings into the Criminal Justice program. Evening courses in this major are now offered on a regular basis.

• The need for further student understanding of the court and correctional system and additional firsthand experience observing and participating in criminal justice settings has been met by incorporating a required internship into the crimina/justice curriculum. LCRJ 282 is an internshiplpracticum which requires a minimum of 144 hours in a crimina/justice setting. Students routinely fulfill this requirement through working with the probation, parole, and correctional systems in the surrounding counties and in cooperation with the

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Lancaster County Sheriffs Department.

Associate in Science in Business

As recommended by South Carolina's Commission of Higher Education, CSC Lancaster is currently in the process of merging two separate associate degree programs: Commercial Science and Secretarial Science. This merger will create a viable program in terms of productiYity and will promote a more vibrant, creative climate for future program growth. Through their coursework, students enrolled in the new program will be helped in acquiring or further developing the skills, knowledge, capabilities, and personal qualities necessary for successful entry into occupations related to commercial science including fields involving accounting procedures, data processing, and word processing. Faculty evaluation of the program will be conducted through student surveys, exit interviews, and transfer data on a continuous cycle and results will be reported at the end of the first two years of the program ( 1997). Responses will be utilized by faculty to determine levels of success for the first two years of the program; programmatic changes, if indicated, will be implemented.

3. Performance of Professional Program Graduates on Licensing and Certification Exams

The overall purpose of the York Technical College/USC Lancaster A.D. 1\ursing Program is to assist the student to develop the intellectual and technical competence necessary to function as a safe technical nurse practitioner in giving general nursing care to patients in hospitals and comparable health agencies. The A.D. Nursing Program meshes with the purposes of the two parent institutions. All three purposes address the preparation of a graduate with marketable competence to achieve a career goal. The purpose of the York Tech nursing program agrees with the technical nature of the program while a shared commonality between the two institutions is the emphasis upon the intellectual component of the nursing program.

Licensing Exams: The purpose of the licensing certification process is to legally enter professional practice in the United States with the title of Registered Nurse. Every graduate of an associate degree, diploma, or baccalaureate nursing program must successfully pass the National Council Licensure Examination For Registered Nurses (NCLEX-RN).The exam is given each year. The success of the nursing program is measured through an annual survey of employers of program graduates ( 6 months after graduation) and through annual passage rates on the national Licensing Exam.

Once again in 1994, USC Lancaster/York Tech's Nursing Program has continued its tradition of excellence. Survey results and passage rates on the 1994 exam reveal that

Ninety percent (90%) or more of nursing graduates are currently employed in nursing.

• Passage rates remain above the state and national passage rates; in fac~ the rate of success in 1994 was 97.6%.

• Employers indicate in their responses to the employer survey that graduates of the nursing program are functioning at or above a 90% competency level.

4. Reports of Program Changes that have Occurred as a Result of External Program Evaluation

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There have been no changes in 1995 as a result of external program evaluations.

5. Academic Advising

Academic advising is an ongoing process designed to help the student achieve his or her educational goals through careful planning of coursework, monitoring of progress toward the student's educational objectives, and assistance in directing the student toward campus resources which can aid the student in making timely progress the University.

To achieve these goals, all students admitted to USC Lancaster are assigned an advisor and meet with that advisor before beginning coursework each semester. To help ensure an ongoing relationship between the advisor and the student and in order to ensure a student's timely progress, USC Lancaster requires a student to obtain the signature of the advisor in ord·er to process a schedule, drop a course, or add a course. In addition, students are required to meet with their advisors a minimum of twice a semester.

Continuing education of faculty and staff advisors includes periodic meetings organized by the Admissions Office. Assigning advisors to a particular discipline or area of concentration further enhances advisors' ability to remain current and knowledgeable concerning students' programmatic needs both at USC Lancaster and USC Columbia.

Beginning in summer, 1995, attendance of faculty at advisor update meetings will be monitored through attendance records. In addition, student focus groups will be conducted in the spring of 1996 to obtain information about contact with advisors as well as the appropriateness of advising information distributed during Orientation and in University 101 classes. Finally, advisors will be surveyed (as well as continuing students) concerning USC Lancaster's advisement process. The findings will be used to refine the training and updating of advisors, where appropriate, as well as to improve all aspects of the advising process where indicated.

6. Entry-Level Placement and Developmental Skills

Students entering higher education bring with them varying levels of experience and abilities. All freshmen and transfer students entering USC Lancaster participate in placement procedures in English, mathematics, and reading. The placement test results provide advisors, faculty, and students themselves more specific information in addition to transcripts and standardized test scores by which to decide the level at which students are best prepared to enter the curriculum.

For those students for whom it is appropriate, USC Lancaster offers developmental mathematics (Math 1 00), developmental English (English 09911 00), and Effective Reading (UCAM 120). All are designed to help students with identified deficits in these areas strengthen their skills in order to move with confidence into regular first-year courses and the general curriculum. USC Lancaster strives to continuously improve the rate of success of students in subsequent courses who placed into developmental coursework.

Both English and Mathematics faculty in their respective departments will record rates of success for students beginning in fall, 1994.

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• Ofthose who completed a remedial course in English in Fall1993, 87% of those who went on to a subsequent English course (English 101) successfully completed the course.

• Ofthose who completed a remedial course in Math in Fall1993, 73% ofthose who were successful in completing developmental math went on to success in subsequent math courses.

• Of the 36% of incoming freshmen, then, who were placed into a developmental class in Fall 1993, a significant percentage went on to achieve success after completing remedial coursework.

Although subsequent rates of success for those placed into developmental English and Developmental Mathematics are high, USC Lancaster will begin monitoring success rates at the departmental level beginning in fall, 1995, in order to both maintain and improve upon current success rates. Data for those in developmental math courses will be used by math faculty as the basis for discussion on strategies for improvement. Results of these departmental activities will be reported in 1997.

7. Success of Entering Students in Meeting College or University Admissions Prerequisites

This component is not applicable to our institutional type.

8. Achievement of Students Transferring from Two to Four-Year Institutions

USC Lancaster recognizes its role in preparing those students who desire to go on to a four year program to successfully transfer to a four year campus. Through USC Lancaster's General Education requirements, its advising process, and its transfer preparation program which is coordinated by the Director of Student Services and the Office of Admissions, students are prepared to move successfully toward completion of a four year degree.

Due to the statistically insignificant number of our students represented in the 1992 Cohort Study, no conclusions can be drawn at this time.

USC Lancaster will, in the coming year, begin using a USC Columbia computer generated listing of required courses for each major in order to guarantee accuracy in planning out a course of study for students intending to transfer. In addition, USC Lancaster will continue to offer its comprehensive transfer meetings at which students receive information about housing and a variety of other matters related to a successful transfer to another campus and community.

Although USC Columbia maintains records of transfer success through its Office of Research and Institutional Analysis, this year USC Lancaster will be implementing a new local survey to ascertain student satisfaction with the transfer/advising process as well as levels of satisfaction with the informational meetings which are conducted on the local level to facilitate ease of transfer to USC Columbia.

Supplemental Information

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The following is information concerning performance of students changing campuses from USC Lancaster to the baccalaureate-granting institutions gf the University of South Carolina Aiken, Columbia, Spartanburg and, because of when these students were enrolled. Coastal Carolina. This information was produced from ongoing research efforts by the USC Regional Campuses Office. The cohort consists of those students who changed campuses after the spring semester from 1985 through 1990. These six groups of students were combined, thus producing a large cohort that encompasses many years. Lastly, this cohort represents a population, not a sample.

N=454

The 454 students left Lancaster with an average of 67 earned hours and a cumulative GPA of 2.98.

During the first semester at their respective "new" campuses, 'these students earned an average GP A of2.47. Their cumulative average was 2.87.

Two academic years after leaving Lancaster, 181 ( 40%) of these students had earned a B.A./ B.S . degree at a USC campus or at Coastal Carolina University while 193 ( 43 %) were still enrolled. Two students (.004%) were suspended and 72 (16%) ofthese students were not enrolled at a USC campus.

Three academic years after leaving Lancaster, 299 (66%) had earned a B.A. B.S. degree while 57 ( 13%) were still enrolled. Six students (1 %) were suspended and 84 (19%) of these students were not enrolled at a USC campus.

Four academic years after leaving Lancaster, 335 (74%) had earned a B.A./B.S. degree while 23 (5%) were still enrolled. Five students (1%) were suspended and 81 (18%) ofthese students were not enrolled at a USC campus.

9. Analysis of Undergraduate Retention and Attrition


10. Minority Student and Faculty Access and Equity


11. Academic Performance of Student Athletes


12. Procedure for Student Development

Based on the schedule of reporting, this component will be reported on next in 1996.

13. Library Resources and Services

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14. Administrative and Financial Processes and Performance


15. Facilities


16. Public Service

As part of its overall mission, USC Lancaster is committed to public service in its broadest sense. Through regular course offerings, library services, Continuing Education programs, summer enrichment programs, health and wellness programs, and cultural events held at USC Lancaster, the institution helps area residents achieve personal development, professional growth, and cultural enrichment.

Campus public service currently addresses a variety of local needs: at the P.E. Center, preventative and recreational programs for all age groups continue to provide lifelong wellness opportunities for area residents. Free or nominal fee access to P.E. Center facilities is provided for selected public service groups and events such as the "Maywalk," Lancaster Mental Retardation Board, etc. The Cardiac Rehabilitation Center continues to provide both free and billed services related to lab services and rehabilitation activities (blood pressure checks, vaccinations, etc.). USC Lancaster's Medford Library also responds promptly to community requests in the areas of reference, government documents, and instruction in library technology and resources and provides instruction on the use of library technology and resources. Through the Office of Continuing Education, area residents' continuing education needs are met through a variety of course offerings that address both public service needs (safety courses, small business classes) and through career continuing education needs (such as computer programming classes). While a third of Continuing Education's offerings are public service offerings, the office in addition, coordinates efforts with area organizations and institutions (Winthrop University, Lancaster County School System, etc.) to offer additional services such as Small Business Development courses. In addition, faculty continue their commitment to annual public service through a wide variety of venues including free presentations for local organizations, environmental efforts, and free programs delivered through the local public school system. In addition, USC Lancaster sponsors yearly public service events including concerts, art exhibits, and a lecture series which is free and open to the public.

The institution's public service activities are monitored through detailed record keeping including enrollment data, faculty evaluation forms, participant evaluation forms. Annual data is evaluated each year by those who direct public service efforts (The Director of the P.E. Center, the Director of Continuing Education, and others); programmatic changes are made when indicated. In addition, pilot programs are conducted regularly in perceived areas of community need and detailed records of the pilot effort are assessed.

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Careful record keeping continually impacts USC Lancaster's public service efforts including the following:

• The Director of the Center has responded to a perceived need for summer wellness opportunities specifically for adolescents (students aged 12 to 18) by implementing, beginning in summer 1995, new summer wellness opportunities and classes for this age category.

• Cardiac Rehabilitation Clinic records indicate a current volume of use (both in terms of paid and free public services) which employ the clinic's staff full-time (i.e., to capacity); the clinic will continue to maintain annual records in order to monitor levels of use.

• Records kept by the Director of USC Lancaster's Medford Library indicated a need for greater linkage and communication between USC Lancaster's library and area public libraries in order to better serve area residents' needs for information services. The Director has responded by coordinating a new "Area Library Consortium ".which will be communicating/sharing resources including technological resources in order to better serve citizens in the surrounding counties including Mecklenburg County. The Consortium'sfirst meeting is scheduled for summer, 1995.

• Data collected over the last two years by the Director of Continuing Education concerning the Minority Career Fair has indicated a permanent need for this service in the community; the fair is thus being annualized.

17. Research

This component is not applicable to our institutional type. ~ -- -

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